NBA Daily Fantasy Helper: Tuesday 10/27/15

The NBA season kicks off tonight and LeBron James looks to make a statement that he's still the best player on the planet.

If you’ve never played daily fantasy basketball before, it’s time to start. Unlike traditional leagues, you’re able to select the players you want on that specific day only, giving you a different squad to root for each and every NBA night.

Today's lineups can be found here. The information below is to help you understand why particular players are being picked, because we don't want you going into the night completely blind. We want to help you. Keep in mind, however, that things often change up until tip-off, so make sure you're refreshing the optimal lineups as close to the start of games as possible.

Let's get to it.

The Best of the Best

LeBron James - King James is widely considered the best basketball player on the planet, and is coming off of a season in which he inside of the top six among all players in Player Efficiency Rating (25.9), Usage Rate (32.3%) and Value Over Replacement (5.9). Tonight, the Cavaliers' star will face off against a Bulls' squad who should look significantly different than last season under new head coach Fred Hoiberg. The former Iowa State coach will likely have Chicago running their offense at a much quicker pace than the 23rd fastest offense they ran under former coach Tom Thibodeau. This means there will be more possessions for both teams and, in turn, more fantasy points. With Kyrie Irving out for a few more months, we should see James dominate the ball and and have a massive usage rate tonight. All signs point to a big opening night performance for Lebron. He is our highest projected player on the board tonight.

Al Horford - Horford was finally able to stay healthy last year, and herewarded his fantasy owners with a tremendous season. The Hawks' big man averaged 15.2 points, 7.2 boards, 3.2 assists and 1.3 blocks with a 22.2% usage rate and should be in store for another spectacular campaign in his eighth year in the NBA. With the Hawks opening up the season against a Pistons' defense that ranked 21st in the league in defensive efficiency and allowed the second most fantasy points per game to opposing centers last season, Horford should have no problem dominating the paint en route to a strong fantasy outing tonight.

Top Mid-Range Values

Mo Williams - As I mentioned earlier, the Cavaliers will be without their star point guard Irving to start the year. Additionally, Iman Shumpert will also be sidelined for the first few months of the season, which means that the journeyman Williams will open the season as Cleveland's starting point guard. The veteran point guard was impressive when on the court last season, averaging 17.5 points, 7.7 assists and 3.2 rebounds on a per-36 minute basis a year ago. He has played with LeBron in the past -- in fact he made his only All-Star team as a member of the Cavaliers and teammate of James in the 2008-2009 season -- and the former MVP trusts him which means he should spend plenty of time on the floor while Irving and Shumpert are out. Williams provides excellent value on both FanDuel ($6,000) and DraftKings ($4,900). Take advantage of this price tag while you can, because you probably will not see it this low any time in the near future.

Eric Gordon - Just like the Cavaliers, the Pelicans come into the season dealing with several key injuries. Tyreke Evans and Norris Cole will both miss significant time to start the season and Jrue Holiday is stuck with a 15-minute per game limit for the foreseeable future. This means New Orleans will be forced to lean heavily on Gordon. Although he draws a tough matchup against Klay Thompson, the Pelicans' guard should be in store for a massive workload and could see a usage rate above 20%, especially in the absence of Evans who would normally be the teams' primary ball handler. Gordon is very reasonably priced at just $5,200 on both FanDuel and DraftKings and has one of the highest floors of any shooting guard on tonight's slate.

Basement Ballers

Nate Robinson - While Gordon does provide excellent value at shooting guard with the restrictions to Holiday and the absence of Evans and Cole, the player who most benefits from all of these injuries is Robinson. The Pelicans' signed the diminutive point guard this offseason and he is expected to play a major role right away. The veteran guard averaged 14.5 points, 5.9 assists and 3 rebounds per game on a per-36 minute basis last season and should see more than enough playing time tonight in what Vegas expects to be the highest scoring game on the slate by a mile to eclipse value at the minimum price on both FanDuel and DraftKings. Robinson should provide the salary relief you need to fit a guy like LeBron into your lineups.

Kent Bazemore - With DeMarre Carroll signing with the Raptors this offseason, the Hawks will need someone to step up and fill the hole at small forward. Although it's yet to be seen who will take the lions share of Carroll's minutes, Bazemore is certainly the frontrunner. Bazemore is a long, athletic player who plays solid defense. He has proven that he can handle big minutes in the past during his time with the Lakers and has the opportunity to put up career numbers as a member of one of the most efficient offenses in the NBA. Look for the Hawks' young forward to take advantage of a plus matchup with a terrible Pistons' defense tonight. He is an absolute steal at just $3,700 on FanDuel and $3,000 on DraftKings.